The 44th Hunger Games
by TheShad0wsweeper
Summary: writing a hunger games for my class and decided to post it here for others to enjoy. Note all the characters are based off students which is why the names seem normal.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

I wake to the familiar sound of my mother's teapot whistling.  
We always started our day with a fresh cup of mint tea, since we had it growing around our gardens like a weed. Mint was a comforting thing to me, it was the essence of our home, it was familiar -however, today was not comforting: It was the day where I find out whether or not I live another year, or get my death sentence.  
It was my third year with my name in the raffle of the Hunger Games, where the so-called "jack-pot" was certain death. There's a reason nobody from District 11 has won in over 80 years - as the last victor from here died decades ago.

My mother greets me with a fake smile. I can see the worry behind her eyes - it's not the first time she's lost a family member to the Hunger Games.  
I often hear her sobbing at night, crying out her sisters name, begging: "Don't leave me, don't leave me!"  
Her sister had been reaped at the age of 12, her first year. One slip out of hundreds of thousands had her name on it, and she was chosen. The idea of her own daughter receiving the same fate terrifies her, and I can hear it in her voice as she says: "Come on Sammy, eat up, you've got a big day ahead."  
"Im not hungry" I reply quietly. I have too much on my mind to swallow down the tiny morsel of groosling my mother had prepared. Taking a sip of tea out of my mug instead, I walk upstairs to get changed into my reaping clothes

After putting on my favourite dress, I make my way down the stairs again, giving a disheartened goodbye to my mother as I walk out the door.  
Striding nervously down the gravel footpath leading to the town square, I join the queue for third year girls.  
After what seems like hours, I finally got to the front of the line and looked away as the Peacekeeper pricks my finger and dabs it on the piece of paper with my name on it.  
"Thank you," she says monotonously, as she hands me a sticker with a number on it, "Hold on to this until the end of the reaping. NEXT!" she yells. I walk past the desk and into the square where a mass of children are standing fearfully, as they wait to learn their fate.

A few minutes later I see District 11's bright and bubbly escort, Nina Buckley, walk up the stairs in an outrageous mauve wig, orange pencil skirt and royal blue blouse. She trots across the stage in pink stilettos and speaks into the microphone in an excited voice: "Hello District 11! As you know, today is the day where one handsome young man, and one gorgeous young lady, get the honour of representing your district in the annual Hunger Games! I guess we'll go with the ladies first?"  
Silence hung over the entire square as we watched her hand reach into the glass sphere which held the names of all the girls.  
As she opens the folded piece of paper, she reads out a name. I didn't catch it at first, but after she repeats it, my heart stops. My stomach sinks. My body chills as I realise that noone else is crying. They dont need to - it isn't them.  
It's my name she's reading out.  
"Samantha Lilly?! Where are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Samantha Lilly?" Nina called out for the third time. "come up to the stage, deary!"  
Everyone around me stepped aside, leaving a pathway for me to walk down. I try to keep a straight face as I walk up to the stage. 'I can't cry.' I think to myself as I trudged up to the stairs, onto the stage.  
I can hear my mother wailing whilst I stood next to Nina.  
"Are there any volunteers for Samantha?"  
Silence looms over the crowd, broken only by my mother's uncontrollable sobbing.  
"Okay, let's get onto the boys, shall we?" She exclaims cheerfully, taking no notice of my mother. Nina reaches into the glass sphere containing the boys' names, grabbing a folded piece of paper.  
"Mathew Sherlock." Escapes her lime green lips.  
Near the back of the crowd, children move away from each other, leaving a pale faced boy standing, dumbstruck. His body radiating fear as he trudges up to the stage. He was taller than I thought - I'd seen him around at school. He was a quiet boy in the year above, he was harmless.  
Nina finished her speech "thanking" everyone as they filed out of the square.  
We were led inside the mayor's building and into a big, white office. A high ranking person proceeded to tell us about when we were leaving and to not pack or say goodbye. We were told that the Capitol train was waiting for us and that we were to board it immediately, without saying farewell to our families. Mathew and I walked out of the office and onto the Capitol train.

A breeze of warm air greets my face as I walk into the sleek, silvery train. The decor reflects the style of the capital; a sap-green sheepskin carpet, teal leather sofas and a table made out of what seemed to be moulded diamond.  
"You two are extremely lucky to be chosen, look at the luxuries you get to enjoy!" Nina told us using her bubbly voice.  
I felt sick at the thought of enjoying these luxuries - after all, I'll be dead and shipped back in a wooden box to my family. Mathew seems to have the same opinion.  
"You two should get some rest, we've all got a big day tomorrow! We'll reach the Capitol by midday tomorrow."  
Great, only 24 hours until I get ogled at by the judgemental citizens of the Capitol, with even more outrageous fashion than Nina.  
Mathew and I walk into our bedrooms; he leaves again, probably getting his last views of the plains that made up District 11.  
I climb into my bed and pull the duck feather quilt over my shoulders, drifting into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The train comes to a slow and gradual stop. The train comes to a slow and gradual stop. I look out the window and see a tidal wave of colour in different coloured wigs, clothes and what even seemed to be a woman with lilac tinted skin! What a joke I think to myself disgustedly, if only they saw the standards we lived with in District 11, it'd probably knock the colour right out of their wigs!

The citizens all look ecstatic to get a first glimpse at what children they'll get to see graphically slaughtered on Panem television. I give them all a glowering look, that only seems to excite them further. I mustn't look very appealing - after all, I was restless all night, waking up with a jolt with nightmare after nightmare containing the unlimited possibilities of my tragic and undignified death. The crimson velvet carpet felt smooth and soft as we walked from the train into our headquarters, where we will spend our last couple of nights before entering the arena. The solid glass doors reflect lights coming from flashing cameras in the mass of citizens trying to get the best shot of Mathew and I. When we enter the elevator Nina tries to comfort us, seeing the fear and panic in both of our eyes "You guys get a better view than those tributes from District 1 and 2, because we get to be on the eleventh floor! AAAAAND," She babbles on, obviously telling that her words werent comforting us at all "I heard that they aren't even allowed nectar to drink!" Mathew and I look confused at her, so she then proceeds to explain almost patronisingly "Oh, I'm sorry! I didnt realise they dont have nectar at your home, well let me explain, it's a drink that tastes different to each person, it tastes like the drink that that person enjoys the most! Doesn't that sound marvellous?" Nina's face shows defeat as she shuts up and realises that nothing she can say is going to reassure us that it's going to be okay, because it won't.

Our quarters leave me breathless when we walk in - it was colossal! You could have fitted my whole house in there! Suddenly my gut feels like its been hit by a spear. I wont ever SEE my house again, let alone fit it into this room, I probably WILL be hit by a spear. We sat down on golden chairs with a mink cover and I give a small shriek after leaning on the table that was made out of water, but held the shape. "That's Capitol technology for you!" Nina announces delightedly, "Its like water so the food can float down to your plate, but the water doesnt stick to anything!" Even though everything about the Capitol disgusts me, this was impressive.

After about a minute, a small brown skinned boy rises up from the floor with a trolley full of strange looking delicacies. "That's our Avox." Nina informs us, with a tone implying that he was little more than a slave. He places the trays on to the table, and they float down the table in a loop. The aromas radiating from the food were astounding, I didn't even know such scents existed! I took a bit of everything, a piece of blue meat, some red, foreign looking fruit that had a savoury taste and something that tasted like groosling - a bird that we commonly ate back in District 11 - but had a spicy aftertaste.  
"Try some nectar, dearies." Nina says, as a mug of a swirling multicoloured liquid floats down to me. I take a sip, and suddenly my taste buds become alive. It's like a barrage of different flavours dancing on my tongue in an intense routine of taste. After a few sips, it settles down into a single flavour: mint tea. Just like the kind my mother used to make me each morning, but there was something artificial about it.  
It didn't comfort me like it should have.  
I felt repulsed about the fake comfort the drink is attempting to give me, putting the mug down and letting it float away.

"Thank you, you may leave" Nina tells the little brown Avox boy.  
"Why doesnt he speak?" I asked Nina.  
"Because they get their tongues cut out," she replies.  
This is too much. I leave the table and run into my bedroom. The sickness of the Capitol, there was so much cruelty and evil behind the excitement and happiness. I hid under the covers.  
"You should come into the lounge" an unfamiliar voice tells me. I kick off the covers to see Mathew standing at the door frame. "They're showing the reapings soon." I realise that since we have no mentor, seeing who the tributes will be was going to be my only advantage.  
The reapings for District 1 start after watching a few minutes of advertisements of the Hunger Games. Before each tribute it said their name, and age. I didnt pay attention to the names on the screen, so i hoped it would mention them somewhere else. The escort for District one reads out a name that I couldnt catch due to her strange accent. Immediately after the name is read out there are several girls yelling out "I VOLUNTEER". The first one to get up on stage is a slender blonde haired girl with a cruel complexion, like that of a mass murderer. I then realise that she IS a mass murderer, or at least she's been trained to be one for the majority of her life. I can understand her voice as she proudly exclaims "I, Emily Couchman, have volunteered to undertake the honour of representing District 1 in the 44th annual Hunger Games!" A deafening roar could be heard through the television speakers. Obviously in District 1 it is an honour to be given their death sentence, although they probably won't die.

The escort then proceeded to say another inaudible name, which is again immediately responded with a barrage of "I VOLUNTEER!"  
The first boy to get to the stage yells out "I, Devon Copp, am sixteen years old, and I have volunteered to undertake the honour of representing District 1 in the 44th annual Hunger Games!"  
The next district followed the same idea, only the tributes were much, much more terrifying. The male tribute was a seventeen year old boy called Ross - a towering mass of muscle, that had the grace and reflexes of a snake. I could tell in his eyes that he would not hesitate to kill anyone around him, given the chance. The female volunteer, a sixteen year old girl called Georgia was short but stocky, I could tell she could easily take down anyone if it came to hand to hand combat. I didn't pay attention to District 3, as they were not a career district, and the two tributes, Evie and Oliver were thirteen years old and both small and scrawny. In District 4, both tributes were volunteers; A seventeen year old boy called Finn who looked very friendly and had an athletic build and was suprisingly tall for his age. The way he walked showed that he could turn from a charismatic gentleman into a violent killing machine in seconds.  
The female one, an eighteen year old girl called Shani, made Finn seem like a field mouse. Every step she took screamed lethality, her posture reflected how confident she was. She was definitely a ruthless killing machine, radiating a seductive deadliness in every move that she made.

The next few districts were the same, only a girl called Bijoux from District 5 and a girl called Karyn from District 6 had an aura about them that seemed dangerous; Bijoux looked strong and able to fight, plus she was from the power district so she'd have an advantage if electronics came in to play. Karyn seemed like a quiet, evasive character; the way she walked was almost as if she was ready to pounce at any moment, and able to blend in easily, like a cat.  
Finally it came to me, I seemed pretty natural, I showed very little fear which was pleasing, as I wouldn't seem like an easy meal for the careers. The final reaping, which was the male for District 12 made me feel sickened by the Capitol's cruelty - as a twelve year old boy named James was selected. James broke down into a teary mess, after all he would probably be mercilessly murdered by the likes of the lethal Shani or Ross. When he tried to get comfort from the sixteen year old female tribute Nina, he was coldly turned down. I could tell Nina was going to be a lone wolf in this game. I decided to try and get some sleep, after all, tomorrow would be the first day of training, where I could learn the true deadliness of the careers.


End file.
